On This Day: December 15th

A 6.5Mwearthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Java in the city of Tasikmalaya, resulting in four deaths.

Gunman Man Haron Monis takes 18 hostages inside a café in Martin Place for 16 hours in Sydney. Monis and two hostages are killed when police raid the café the following morning.

The South Sudanese Civil War begins when opposition leaders Dr. Riek Machar, Pagan Amum and Rebecca Nyandeng vote to boycott the meeting of the National Liberation Council at Nyakuron.

A boat carrying 90 asylum seekers crashes into rocks off the coast of Christmas Island, Australia, killing 48 people.

Introduction of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor into USAF active service.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 spent to stabilize it, without fixing its famous lean.

The third reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down.

Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183 crashes in the desert near Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, killing 85.

The Troubles: The Downing Street Declaration is issued by British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.

Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights relating the abolition of capital punishment is adopted.